The 1940s

The growth of industry

PP&L powered the progress of industry in Pennsylvania by building a vast energy grid of transmission, substation and distribution infrastructure. Over the next 17 years, a total of 750 industries were encouraged to locate in towns and rural areas that PP&L served, creating more than 56,000 job opportunities for residents and increasing the demand for power.

1941-1945

WWII transforms the company’s workforce

World War II had a major impact on PP&L. Hundreds of employees left for the armed services and women often took their places in the office and power plants. By 1944, more than 1,000 male and female PP&L employees had been called to serve in the military. Before the war ended in 1945, more than 20 percent of the company’s pre-war workforce had performed military duties.

Women entered the workforce in droves in the 1940s as men were sent off to war. Pictured above are female PPL office workers from the 1940s.

1945

Company goes public

PP&L begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange in December 1945. The company has released a dividend in each quarter since 1946.

Stock traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange circa 1936

Stock traders on the New York Stock Exchange.